


To Carry On

by justanotherjen



Category: Stargate: SG-1
Genre: Angst, Deathfic, Drama, F/M, Minor Character Death, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-24
Updated: 2011-07-24
Packaged: 2017-10-21 19:34:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/228950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanotherjen/pseuds/justanotherjen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack loses the most important member of his team but he has to find the strength to carry on for his friends, for Earth... for her. Inspired by this Harry Potter quote: "We must try not to sink beneath our anguish, Harry, but battle on."</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Carry On

**Author's Note:**

> **To Carry On**   
> **by jennickels (aka Jen Connelly)**   
> **Stargate SG-1**   
> **Jack/Sam**   
> **503 words**   
> **rating: PG-13  
>  WARNINGS: death of major character**

"Come on, Jack!" Daniel yanks on his arm trying to drag him from the battlefield. Around them trees burst into flames as Jaffa take potshots at their location. They can't see SG-1 but they know they were there. And one of them had got lucky.

Jack's eyes slide to the prone body next to him. Body. The word tears a hole in his chest. Right where his heart used to reside.

"JACK!"

A shower of sparks erupts just feet from Daniel's head, stone and mortar crashing down around them. He ducks down, wiping the grime from his tear-streaked face.

"O'Neill, we must leave this place." Teal'c squats down next to them as another blast gets terrifyingly close to their position. He frowns at Jack, apparently dissatisfied with the way he's handling the loss of one of their own.

Jack squeezes his eyes shut and tries not to see her broken body lying in the dirt, a pool of blood radiating out. The bile rises quickly and he's on his hands and knees emptying the contents of his stomach. Daniel jumps back but seconds later his hands are on Jack's shoulder—gentle but insistent he move.

"Jack," he nearly whispers right in his ear, "we have to go." Daniel's putting on a brave face but Jack can hear the anguish in his voice.

"We can't leave her," he mumbles back. "No one gets left behind."

Daniel's hands still.

"This position will be overrun any moment, O'Neill. We must leave."

Jack tenses. _I'd rather die myself than lose Carter._ The words race through his mind. "I'll stay," he murmurs.

"What? No, Jack, we have to get out of here."

Jack shakes his head. "Can't." The words stop in his throat and he thinks he might wretch again.

"What purpose will it serve if you also do not survive this attack?"

"Jack, SG-3 is pinned down on the other ridge. We have to go help them."

"We must continue to fight." Teal'c rises. Daniel follows.

"Sam wouldn't want you to die. Not like this. She would want you to fight."

Jack looks over at her again. The motionlessness rattles his nerves but he knows that they're right. He's not sure how he'll keep going but, glancing up at the rest of his team, he knows he has to—for them, for Earth... for her. Finally he moves, the initial agony subsiding. Daniel gathers their weapons and Jack leans over Carter. She still smells like her shampoo and the base laundry detergent. He leans his face into her hair, taking a deep breath—he doesn't want to ever forget that scent.

Slowly he winds his fingers around the chain on her neck and with a whispered apology yanks her dog tags free. A single glance back as they retreat around the crumbling building is the last time he ever sees her. But he goes on. Because he has to. Because there's still a war to fight. Carter would want it that way, he thinks.


End file.
